prepared by Dr. Trombetta for ECE 4119 (with some modifications by me -wzw)
To display and run the code necessary for these assignments, you will need to log-on to your (Solaris) UNIX account, and open a terminal session. Then, execute the command "deckbuild &".
In all of the VWF programs, note that menus are pulled down using a RIGHT CLICK (unlike Windows or Mac). Then choose the appropriate item in the menu with the usual left click.
From Deckbuild, load the example file by choosing Main Control/Examples. Then Choose examples listed in the assignments by double-clicking.
From TonyPlot, you can adjust the plotting parameters by choosing Plot/Display. Choose the option you want from the icon box, and choose Apply. To adjust the colors of the display, choose Define/Contours/Colors. In that submenu, Rainbow 30 is a nice plotting option.
To get TonyPlot to give you a cutline, choose Tools/Cutline.
Plotting Structure Files using Tonyplot. It is possible to plot any structure file, including the history files, by the following method. (A structure file is any file that has the .str extension.) In the Deckbuild window, used the mouse to highlight the name of the file, for example .history.str, or mosexo01_0.str. Then, right click on the Tools menu, select Plots, and Plot Structure. This action will open TonyPlot and display the contents of the structure file.
Plotting Your Results. You may find this surprising, but plotting is a bit convoluted. Basically, what you do is to "print" to a file. Before doing so, you "define" a printer that has the properties you desire. In this case, those properties are to print to a gif file. As it turns out, we cannot make jpg files from VWF. However, we can get a snap shot (a window or screen catcher) of your structure using it from Applications.
You define a new printer as follows. When you have a structure file displayed in TonyPlot, right click on Print, and left click on Printers. In this dialogue box, you will define a printer and give it a name. Name it anything you choose. Now right-click Type, and choose gif (color), or if you prefer, choose pcx (256 colors). Now choose "Update". The result will be a new printer, whose name should appear on the list in the dialogue box. The direct print can be done into help-desk printer by specifying printer number 108.
Having defined a printer, go back to the Print menu, and choose Options. Choose File, and then choose your newly defined printer from the list at the left. Specify a file name, and select "Print". You should now have a gif or pcx file in your directory.
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Disk Quota. VWF generates a large number of .history files, some of which are quite big. If you allow it to generate all it wants, it will exceed your disk quota. It turns out you have some control over this, as follows. Within Deckbuild, go to the Main Control menu, select Main Control (the first entry) and choose history files. This dialogue box will give you several options, including a "length" parameter, which refers to the number of history files VWF will generate before over-writing the earliest ones. Make this parameter a small number, like 2 or 3. In this way, the last few files generated will be available for you if you need them, but only two or three will be generated. This should handle the memory problem.
It is also possible to compress the history files within the same dialogue, and this method will also save enough memory to run the program. However, if you choose to use the history files after that, you will have to decompress them, of course.